ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - The Kurdish-led Women's Protection Units (YPJ) on Monday said that the all-female fighting force serves as a "voice for a homeland that embraces all its components," coming as negotiations with the Syrian state regarding its integration into Damascus' security apparatus remain unresolved.

A core component of the now-dissolved Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), the YPJ played a key role in the fight against the Islamic State (ISIS) in Syria and garnered international praise for its empowerment of women in the region.

However, though SDF components have largely been integrated into the Syrian security forces under the terms of a January agreement between former SDF chief Mazloum Abdi and Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa that came on the back of Damascus' military incursion into northeast Syria (Rojava), the future role of the YPJ has yet to be ascertained. 

Praising the force as "a shield for women's freedom and rights," YPJ spokesperson Roksan Mohammed on Monday said that they are currently "in a phase where the features of future Syria are taking shape."

"[The YPJ] remains a guarantee for security and stability, and a voice for a homeland that embraces all its components, where women are true partners in decision-making and peace," she wrote on X. 

On September 7, Rojava-based media reported that an initial understanding had been reached that would see the YPJ be absorbed into the Syrian interior ministry, wherein it would serve as a "special" force.

Earlier in August, YPJ said that there have been suggestions its fighters could integrate into Syrian state forces as "a special anti-terrorism force" under the Syrian interior ministry, after initial suggestions that the unit would join the country's defense ministry were scuppered. 

The issue of integrating the Kurdish-led forces into the Syrian security apparatus against whom they fought in January has often sparked tensions.

On Thursday, the Anti-Terrorism Units (YAT) - previously under the auspices of the SDF - affirmed that they remain active in protecting its area of operations and "confronting the various dangers and threats that target its security and stability," coming after the Internal Security Directorate in Hasaka, part of the Syrian government, claimed that the forces "have been disbanded and are no longer part of the current security structure."

The Syrian security statement came against the backdrop of unofficial media reports that the YAT had carried out arrest raids in Hasaka’s Arab-majority Ghwayran neighborhood, where protests against the presence of Kurdish authorities were held days earlier.

Unlike the integration of the male components of the SDF, the all-female nature of the YPJ has posed challenges during the integration process with Damascus, with the Syrian military not operating any female combat units.